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The Franklin County sheriff’s office has suspended the search for a kayaker who is presumed dead
after falling into a lake at Prairie Oaks Metro Park this morning.

Rescue divers from the sheriff’s office and the Columbus divisions of fire and police were
exhausted after hours of looking for Kyle Miller, 21, Sheriff Zach Scott said. The recovery mission
will continue at 9 a.m. Sunday, he said.

Miller and Austin Gifford, 19, both Otterbein University students from Hilliard, were
paddling in separate kayaks when Miller’s dog went into the water. While trying to bring the dog
back into one of the boats, both men fell into the water, Scott said.

Gifford was able to make his way to the shore, where a park ranger and two other people were
able to help him out. Miller couldn’t swim and hung on to the side of a kayak for as long as
possible before slipping under, Scott said.

Neither man was wearing a life jacket.

“The water was between 36 and 38 degrees,” Scott said. “At that temperature, it doesn’t take
long for a body to begin shutting down.”

The Darby Bend Lakes area of the park is a former quarry. The search area was as big as 10
acres, and the water is 70 feet deep in places, Scott said.

The first emergency call came in around 11 a.m., Scott said. Gifford was taken to OhioHealth
Doctors Hospital for treatment for hypothermia and then released.